CHUD – Interview with the band (Mat, Nick, Chris)

Well, the boys from Oceania have cool music, rich, technically advanced. I think they somehow break through more than just vast areas of Australia. Maybe we didn’t quite understand each other because of my twisted questions, as in the matter of Kosciuszko, but this is a detail. Important is that they already have plans for a successor to “Dead”… Read our deliberations at the same time listen to them and get your own conclusions… Is worth to bet on this horse in the nearest race?

Whats up! If I use the term that you are the descendants of convicts, will it be touchy? Well, unless you come from emigrants?

Hey Hey! Hope you’re having a great day! Depends who you ask over here, the media is very controlled in our country by Christian enforcers – so a lot of the mainstream population don’t have a real identity, they only repeat what they’re told – and they don’t talk about it. We ourselves don’t really care, we are mostly the children of immigrants. But yes, this country was founded on slavery. Mostly Irish, Scottish, Welsh and English slaves. Some limited European and Indian slaves too perhaps.

Well. The welcome we have done. An intriguing issue concerns your band’s name. And does it refer to the horror from 1984 “Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller,” in short C.H.U.D. Or possibly “Contamination Hazard Urban Disposal” ?. Did I hit it right?

The roots or meaning of the band name is an old Slavic word, roughly meaning ‘tribe’ or ‘folk’. We didn’t know about the movie until a friend showed us, well after the band had been formed.

I read somewhere that you play Sludge / Groove Metal, and for me it is good old Death Metal. Expanded with your psychedelia that you release from the hard frames of this genre in your own way. For me, Techno Death would be more appropriate.

We’ve definitely passed beyond the traditional borders of sludge/doom/groove in the last few years. We as individuals do listen to a broad range of musical tastes, and as time has passed we’ve certainly discovered new tastes.

We do listen to techno – a lot of drill, breakbeats, jungle, old hardstyle. We collectively all enjoy old school death metal, ‘Techno Death’ would certainly be a good description of our sound!

This industriality scares me in a way… Where are you going? Don’t you think that you venture into the extreme depths of this species… Maybe later it will be hard for you to outrank “Dead”? Maybe you will burn out because you will not be able to take this pressure.

We’ll probably take the sound we have made so far and strip it down again, rearrange it into something even colder, with bigger teeth.

If we keep reinventing what we have, we can keep it fresh for ourselves and the listener. But we won’t stray too far from big beats, bone crushing riffs, thrasher drumming roots and the like. We certainly won’t be doing any ballads or adding a streamlined pop sound anytime soon! We have already begun to write and prepare for a new album, so far it’s very heavy, simplistic. But we won’t rush or force it – we’ll see how the cake tastes when we get it out of the oven!

Listening to your massive sounds I come to the conclusion that you are closer to the American school than to the Swedish one. And even! These psychic twisted sounds bring me associations with Canadians from VOIVOD, although this is a completely different genre…

Hey thanks! We do try to get a sound or style of our own – it is a challenge, but certainly achievable still. We all listen to a lot of both European and American death metal, we’ve never really thought about it much. But regardless, the oversized lower tones of the American/South American guitar sound is definitely an influence overall yes. Also, earlier extreme Australian bands were a great inspiration too – The Berserker, Damaged, Devolved.

Long live Asesino! Long live The Berserker!

Long live Brujeria!

I damn like your bass… It sounds like it has loose strings, but the effect of using distorted sound (with fuzz) also gives the desired listening experience.

Cheers! Glad you like it, we did take a lot of care to get the bass sounding right! We very much believe in the ‘no bass = no balls’ strategy!

Fuck, this bass is really crushing! How much time did you spend to estabilish this effect? In combination with the charismatic vocals it does mighty job. Like nothing new but and it makes fun. I mean “Pigs For Satan” among others…

We got large bass strings, and a Bit Crusher. It didn’t take too long to get the sound we wanted timewise. Mostly because we knew what we wanted before we started. It did take a little extra time in the mixing process though, to get it sounding ‘just right’. We also kept in mind we wanted all the instruments to sound great individually, but also come together really well. Paint an even bigger, thicker and oilier picture.

… Anyway, the guitar and drums also increase the dark atmosphere. And here I am starting to get lost, because for example “Fearmonger” smells like Thrash Metal… Maybe it is reason my associations with VOIVOD?

We weren’t content until the whole thing sounded like a truck coming through your speakers! Thrash metal, or at least the traditional elements of it are certainly something we wanted to have in the sound and style of the new songs. Bands like Gallhammer, Pantera, Megadeth, Metallica, Darkthrone and Nailbomb are to blame for this. All the greats!

Voivod are classic band!

I damned enjoy listening to your slow and heavy sounds… Maybe it is dictated by the fact that I have always had a tendency to self-destruct. And that’s how I receive your album.

Hey thank you again! We’re happy you enjoyed the different flavours or colours we wanted to have on this album. It can be hard to achieve that and come off with a solid sounding record that doesn’t trail off into nowhere with no theme. At least we hope it doesn’t! Certainly there is a personal element or theme of destruction/re-construction in the sound of the album. We didn’t necessarily try to achieve this – but it came out great. If anything, life is death and death is life. The cycle itself is partly the reason for naming the album ‘Dead’ perhaps. There is no one without the other.

You don’t know, because from where, in my country there is such a very old band CZERWONE GITARY (Red Guitars) (such music for municipal events). They hve the song “Plona gory, plona lasy” (Burns Mountains, Burns Forests) and now you are on fire! Can you describe it from your side? I listened in the media from various editors who have as much in common with Australia as I do … However, I have more, hehehe.

Australia is a hard country in terms of its’ natural conditions and environment. The government here have not done a very good job of spending the public’s money on emergency services and equipment for these disaster situations. They don’t take great care of our natural resources or the people who work in the Emergency Services. They have spent a lot on lining their own pockets, and secret background deals. Keeping their rich friends, lobbyists and big business in mind. Currying favour for the Religious Industrial Complex. Keeping for themselves, much like the larger Christian charities here, they have taken millions in donations and simply kept it for themselves. The politicians here know what’s happening, they just don’t care because they profit from it.

I feel very sorry for Koala bear and Aborigines. But I don’t like kangaroos… Tell me what is your attitude towards the indigenous people?

The indigenous people of Australia are beautiful, their culture is beautiful. They are not treated with respect or civility by our government, past or present.

Kangaroos can be quite dangerous at night, they often jump in front of cars, causing accidents and sometimes even resulting in deaths.

I know Australia from “Mad Max” and “Romper Stomper”, although this does not make me educated and structured. CHUD music is such, in its own way, despite the cacophony of sounds.

Awesome, cheers! Perhaps because Australia is very isolated we have developed a bit of our own sound, intentional or otherwise.

We don’t want to just jump on the style bandwagon as it comes and goes. We playing what we want to hear, what we want to take out into the world.

Tell me, what is your concerts? Any special settings, arrangaments? Or just – let the music speak? In fact, is your audience crazy under the stage? I am asking because I saw a concert where people stood only under the stage, not moving.

We play every show like it could be our last, and most important – regardless of how many people are there. We’ve done shows to packed clubs where they’re going full steam ahead, and some shows where there’s absolutely no one there at all. In some ways, it’s so small for us over here that we’re still doing it for ourselves and nobody else, at this point anyway. We are still very much the black sheep of the circles here in many ways.

I close my eyes and try to imagine you on a stage? That soulless mob under a stage. With such insane music… In Poland, it would be hell.

We would absolutely love to play Poland!! Anywhere in Europe. But Northern Europe definitely would be fucking excellent yes.

In fact, have you already traveled abroad? Have you already felt the cultural difference between Australians and the rest of the world?

We haven’t played abroad yet no. Hopefully sooner than later!! We imagine a different cultural experience would be a great influence on what we do, and what we would like to do as a band.

Do you know that in New York there is also a band with the same name? … Only they perform a mixture of punk, thrash, hardcore. In a sense, they play richly, but you do the same in your way…

Yes! After we started, we gradually found a couple other CHUD’s around. Alaska, Canada too. We are however the original-recipe, full flavoured CHUD. Anything else is just imitation Chud. Sorry guys….

Maybe I’m insane, but at one point there was a dazzle and at the same time a stupid comparison to the Swedish 2TON PREDATOR. Only they play in the Scandinavian style. Probably I mean some delicate accretions?

We haven’t heard of them, we’ll have to check them out.

I wouldn’t be myself if I didn’t ask such a question… What do you know about Mount Kosciuszko and Paul Edmund Strzelecki?

We don’t know much about them. They were both great explorers and high achievers in general, Polish backgrounds too. We all live near Mount Kosciusko, generally speaking that region – about 2 hours travelling distance.

Maybe we could get the mountain to star in our next video clip?

Okay, thanks for the chat? I think we’ll meet at some concert if you get to Lublin (the capital of my voivodeship). Keep your metal form still…

Hey MASSIVE thanks to YOU for interviewing us! We’d definitely love to meet you in person in Lublin at a show! Hopefully sooner than later! But soon enough, no doubt! Have an excellent day, and thanks to your readers out there!

Make sure you check out our new album, available via Bandcamp.

Many horns to you!!!